Gary Gannon (Dublin Central, Social Democrats) | Oireachtas source

How many people start working at 55? I do not think that is a fair analysis.

Older people in Ireland usually have the lowest rates in poverty and deprivation of any age group. The State pension is solely responsible for this. At any one time, 85% of older people in Ireland would live below the poverty line if it were not for the State pension. Even for better off pensioners who do not rely solely on the State pension, the State pension is usually the most important single source of income in their retirement. The current system recognises that. That is why people who have only paid half the PRSI weeks they would need for a full pension, only lose out by €40. That is recognition of the fact that half the pension just would not be enough on which to even survive, never mind live. I strongly urge the Minister and the Department to proceed cautiously with any system change.

I would love to know about the analysis done by the Minister to this point. Will she release that analysis in terms of its ramifications because I do not think there are many examples of a person starting work at 55 and being able to claim a pension at 66? There is a bit of hyperbole brought into that analysis and I would like to see a stronger calculation analysis.

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